Creighton Prep's Oliver rolls through three district foes
FREMONT — Chris Oliver wrestled as though he was in a hurry to get to this week's State High School Wrestling Championships.
He quickly pinned his three opponents at the Class A-1 district at Fremont High School on Saturday and started making plans for the state meet at the Devaney Sports Center Thursday through Saturday.
Oliver, one of the few undefeated wrestlers in the state, has never lost a high school match. He is 26-0 this year and 125-0 in his career at Omaha Creighton Prep.
The 152-pound senior, who is headed to Nebraska on a wrestling scholarship next fall, completely dominated his opponents Saturday the same way he has all his opponents the last few years.
"This is exciting to go to state one last time and see what I can do," Oliver said. "It's just one match at a time for me and one day at a time for our team."
Oliver has a goal of becoming the 11th wrestler in state history to win four state titles. He could become the fourth to complete the sweep in Class A. He already holds the Class A record for consecutive wins, previously held by Brad Metzler of Omaha Westside, who also won four state titles and post 120 consecutive victories.
"I just wrestle and the records may be there or not," said Oliver. "Those kinds of things aren't on my mind. Just wrestling my best and helping my team."
Creighton Prep finished runner-up to Omaha Burke for the district team title. Lincoln Pius X, led by second-place finishers Justin Hernandez at 103 pounds and Dan Bargen at 171, was fifth with eight state qualifiers, while Lincoln High, led by 275-pound runner-up Bill Dieckhoff, had two qualifiers.
The A-1 district boasted victories by No. 1-ranked and 34-0 Jay Sherer (125 pounds) of Columbus and top-ranked Logan Hayman (130) of Grand Island. Second-ranked wrestlers Dylin Laughlin of Omaha Burke at 103, Brandon Kruger of Fremont at 135, Travis Liechti of Burke at 145, and Josh Marcum of Omaha Benson at 171 also earned titles.
Bargen, a junior at Pius X, had one of the closest finals in a 6-4 loss to Marcum.
Bargen, who will be wrestling in the state meet for the first time, pinned his first two opponents in the first period to reach the finals.
He fell behind Marcum but appeared to have a match-tying takedown with 10 seconds left, but was not awarded the points.
"That's OK, because I think I learned something from the final," said Bargen. "I was feeling so good today and I just couldn't get that last double-leg takedown in for a score at the end. He (Marcum) beat me 6-4 the last time we wrestled.
"I really think that the better the competition the better you get," he said. "And since we have so many guys on our team going to state, I'm excited about what we can do in the three days of practice before the state meet."
Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or at khambleton@journalstar.com.
He quickly pinned his three opponents at the Class A-1 district at Fremont High School on Saturday and started making plans for the state meet at the Devaney Sports Center Thursday through Saturday.
Oliver, one of the few undefeated wrestlers in the state, has never lost a high school match. He is 26-0 this year and 125-0 in his career at Omaha Creighton Prep.
The 152-pound senior, who is headed to Nebraska on a wrestling scholarship next fall, completely dominated his opponents Saturday the same way he has all his opponents the last few years.
"This is exciting to go to state one last time and see what I can do," Oliver said. "It's just one match at a time for me and one day at a time for our team."
Oliver has a goal of becoming the 11th wrestler in state history to win four state titles. He could become the fourth to complete the sweep in Class A. He already holds the Class A record for consecutive wins, previously held by Brad Metzler of Omaha Westside, who also won four state titles and post 120 consecutive victories.
"I just wrestle and the records may be there or not," said Oliver. "Those kinds of things aren't on my mind. Just wrestling my best and helping my team."
Creighton Prep finished runner-up to Omaha Burke for the district team title. Lincoln Pius X, led by second-place finishers Justin Hernandez at 103 pounds and Dan Bargen at 171, was fifth with eight state qualifiers, while Lincoln High, led by 275-pound runner-up Bill Dieckhoff, had two qualifiers.
The A-1 district boasted victories by No. 1-ranked and 34-0 Jay Sherer (125 pounds) of Columbus and top-ranked Logan Hayman (130) of Grand Island. Second-ranked wrestlers Dylin Laughlin of Omaha Burke at 103, Brandon Kruger of Fremont at 135, Travis Liechti of Burke at 145, and Josh Marcum of Omaha Benson at 171 also earned titles.
Bargen, a junior at Pius X, had one of the closest finals in a 6-4 loss to Marcum.
Bargen, who will be wrestling in the state meet for the first time, pinned his first two opponents in the first period to reach the finals.
He fell behind Marcum but appeared to have a match-tying takedown with 10 seconds left, but was not awarded the points.
"That's OK, because I think I learned something from the final," said Bargen. "I was feeling so good today and I just couldn't get that last double-leg takedown in for a score at the end. He (Marcum) beat me 6-4 the last time we wrestled.
"I really think that the better the competition the better you get," he said. "And since we have so many guys on our team going to state, I'm excited about what we can do in the three days of practice before the state meet."
Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or at khambleton@journalstar.com.
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